The Hook

Sit down before you read this next line.

"Canadian Prime Minister Gordon Campbell"

Apparently the good folks who write and edit Sports Illustrated magazine have a less than full grasp of Canadian politics – or a wicked sense of humour.

In a short article about the unfortunate death of Vancouver Olympics chair Jack Poole, the American magazine inadvertently promoted BC Premier Gordon Campbell. Here's the full test:

Died... At age 76, of pancreatic cancer, Jack Poole, the Canadian businessman who spearheaded the successful campaign to bring the 2010 Olympic Games to Vancouver," the short article begins.

A real estate developer whose first job was selling brushes and hand cream door-to-door, Poole was picked by Canadian prime minister Gordon Campbell to be CEO of the Vancouver Bid Corp. in 2001.

Two years later Canada was awarded its first Winter Games since 1988, when Calgary was the host. Poole had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer since 2007. He died last Friday, hours after the ceremonial lighting in Athens of the flame that will be used to open the 2010 Games.

While Campbell may be secretly pleased, it doesn't say much about the international presence of our current prime minister, good old what's-his-name.

Bill Tieleman reports for The Tyee and 24 Hours, and appears regularly on CKNW.